EVENTS

Advocacy 101 Workshop

June 2, 2019New Delhi, India

Bubble Parade

April 22, 2018 ​New Delhi, India

​​‘Self-love’ is to put yourself and your own happiness first, something that deeply lacks in our current society, even in this 21st century. We have been molded to live a disconnected and disempowered life, where the only right way to sustain is the society’s way. We are taught that it is not safe to show our true-selves and therefore we begin to detach from our individuality, sacredness and most importantly, our sexuality and true preferences.

To tackle this issue and raise awareness about the importance of ‘Self-Love’, Project Voice+ and Those In Need collaborated to bring the third edition of the ‘Global Bubble Parade’ in New Delhi, on April 22nd, 2018.The Bubble Parade has been a global sensation in bringing together passionate individuals who share the belief that happiness is the journey, not destination. This peaceful walk full of soapy bubbles was a liberating experience for all participants who believe in breaking their own bubble of self-consciousness. This year’s theme aimed at inspiring individuals to love and accept themselves for who they are regardless of what the society deems fit.

Global Bubble Parade New Delhi 2018 witnessed many individuals from all spheres of live, coming together to enjoy a day of their lives accepting and loving themselves for who they are. They were encouraged to live outside their own little bubble of reticence. All stand together in solidarity to inspire the society to live more empowered lives.

As a team working on conversations around Gender and Sexuality, Voice+ believes in fully owning, embodying and loving all parts of who you truly are and embracing your sexuality. Siddhi Pal, Founder of Project Voice+ says, “Our aim through this event is to make the participants accept themselves and all others around them with no judgement, expectations or limitations- something that we never really give a conscious thought to. Through activities and engagement, we would encourage participants to let go of their shame, guilt, and inhibitions.

Stall at the IDEA Conference

Rainbow State of Mind

​The latest edition of Rainbow State of Mind at South Asian University was brought about by Project Voice+ and Nazariya. The event entailed a workshop, slam poetry, panel discussion, and an open mic.

Ipsa James of Karma Centre for Counseling and Wellbeing conducted the workshop and enlightened the audience about the struggles of the LGBTQIA+ community. She talked about the different types of sexualities and even the subdivisions of asexuality, the diktats of patriarchy, the discriminatory Trans Bill, Article 377, and the various malpractices against the community.

As the workshop went on, the community and its allies agreed on how even men are victims of the same patriarchy, being feminine is considered weak and only women-based derogatory slangs are used in the society. Ms James revealed about the startling corrective rape and male rape statistics of other countries since India’s statistics are not available yet. From the psychological perspective, she talked about the various styles of attachments that make or break a relationship. She encouraged the audience to be more attentive to their friends’ behaviour and the ways to help them if they come out with problems about their sexuality. On being asked a question about ‘queer-friendly’ doctors, she mentioned the online websites where one can find a credible and reliable LGBT friendly doctor.

Followed by the workshop, the audience was treated with two very moving pieces of slam poetry. Uppo Tsuyo, one of the poets, began with a short message on the LGBTQ+ community in our country and sang an ode to the ‘Young Transmen of India’. In her heartfelt composition, she talked about the struggles of transgender men in our country, from the anxiety of not being ‘man enough’ and corrective rape to the scarring top surgery. Angana Sinha Ray took the stage with her poem, ‘When your Daughter Brings Home a Dyke’. Angana reclaimed the slang ‘dyke’, which is usually used in a negative connotation, using it to empower her identity. After all, dykes “are just women who love other women who consent”.

The slam poetry was succeeded by a panel discussion by Dr Ruchika from Karma Centre, Shambhavi Saxena, Writer and Editor at Youth Ki Awaaz, Ms Ipsa James, Ruth Chawngthu, Co-Founder of Nazariya, and Rudrani from MITR Trust. The title of the discussion was ‘Labels, Languages and Contemporary Queer Issues’. On being asked about the most pressing queer issues, each panellist spoke their part. Dr Ruchika talked about the biased and outdated tests to get a certification for the gender reassignment surgery. Ms Saxena and Ms James mentioned the lack of representation of the community on policy-making platforms and the judgemental behaviours among psychologists. On being questioned whether the acronym ‘LGBTQIA+’ is a narrow or wide enough representation. All the discussants agreed that such labels can be liberating and restricting at the same time. Ms Rudrani added that labels segregate people and bring inequality. The panel also broached the subject of lack of knowledge about the community. Their basic information is many a time not even taught to doctors. The government provides zero aid to the mental health sector and absolutely no mention of the history of the community.

The day ended with an open mic session on ‘The Politics of my Bedroom’ added liveliness to the environment. Since the event was a ‘safe space’; it allowed the audience members to talk about their lives freely and confidently. Out of all the performances, the most fun to watch was a drag queen expressing the sexual politics of his bedroom. From allegations against his ex to romantic words for his current partner, he was fierce and full of drama.

VIBGYOR: Share Your Shade

August 20, 2017​New Delhi, India

The August’17 edition of VIBGYOR: Share your Shade , organised jointly by MASH Project & Voice+ , was reflection, refraction and dispersion of the most golden beam of sunlight on a Sunday morning.Knowledge and insight filled the cozy space of Coworkin, Nehru Place, as each shade of incident light bounced off its walls in all of its glory and Pride. The three hours were brimming with comprehensive experience-sharing and a completely engrossed audience. The celebration of fluidity started off with an extremely powerful message, in the most literal sense- through dance. Two delightfully graceful dancers, Shivangi Johri and Adya, used Indian Classical dance forms to convey the story of Shikhandi, a Queer character who played a very important part in the Mahabharata, hence re-iterating the existence and recognition of the Queer community. The performance conveyed that mythology and religion did not completely neglect the community; and it was only later that the LGBTQIA community was slowly excommunicated and removed from societal frameworks and seen as the ‘other’. The performance stood to eradicate the misconception that religion shuns anti-heteronormative standpoints, by conveying a story wherein a queer character was the indispensable instrument in accomplishing the perennial aim of the prevalence of good over evil.

Aastha Singh Raghuvanshi showered us with poetry and smothered us with goose bumps, amidst constant appreciative clicking. The two poems she performed were arrows that killed us instantly. Oh, sweet death! Cupid couldn’t have done a cleaner job. In her words, “our cause is not a story- stories end- but this continues, as long as love continues.”

The stage was thereafter conquered by Taksh, who’d come out to say “Hey, what’s up!?” This ended up being an amazing session, as stories and experiences flowed both ways. She lightened the mood and loosened the audience up, making them lose those nerves and inhibitions as the sound of synchronized laughter ringed through the air. We thought it was love- complicatedly simple. Taksh exuberated unmatched sass, and deconstructed complicated abbreviations like “LGBTQIA (BCDEFG…)” until it seemed to be a slice of cake.

The experience-sharing was carried forward to witty-land by Kunal Koli, who had an endless supply of anecdotes to share, and spoke about the importance of self-acceptance and how it’s completely okay to not put oneself in a singular frame. He stressed that he’d always leaped from one frame to another, and never really felt as though he cared enough to occupy one frame on a wall painted with the colors of the rainbow.The colors of these two interactive sessions spilled into the break. Stories and questions were being fired at the speed of bullets. The aroma of amazing coffee and delicious cupcakes dispersed into the air-conditioned air and rose towards the heavens. We followed it, naturally- arising together. As did the good music.

The break was broken off by Afreen, who enlightened us with the tale of her endeavor Queernama, and the countless experiences and tales it encapsulates within its folds. She claimed that no matter how little of a difference each effort, or collective efforts make, stories need to escape through as many pairs of lips as we can collectively muster. They need to be spoken, shared and brought into existence- so that the syllables spoken and suspended in the air can sway with the wind, dancing through the days.

The event came to a close with Grace, who introduced a very thought-provoking concept of how sexuality can be removed from the way a person may behave—behavior mustn’t always imply a particular sexual orientation. She also spoke about attribution of most of the talk related to gender and sexuality to just a few categories and frames- while we conveniently neglect some kinds of sexualities, sidelining them. “Asexuality is a great way to understand sexuality,” said she.Grace insisted that we consider pondering upon the concept of inclusivity and how asexual people are equally relevant contenders, who deserve a respectable and equal position on the panel for discussion on matters related to gender and sexuality.

We were left with more than one cupcake in our stomachs, multiple stories, experiences, and an unspoken promise to meet again. And smiles. It was all about the smiles, really.

Embrace You: A Workshop on Coping Up

August 17, 2017​Colombo, Sri Lanka

​Voice+ Sri Lanka in collaboration with Nivendra Uduman, counseling psychologist conducted a workshop on coping with coming out, depression and suicide, the 1st of August at the Faculty of Education, University of Colombo. The workshop was attended by members of all walks of life: students in secondary education, activists, psychology students as well as other counselors, totaling the participation to approximately 40 people. Nivendra is renowned as an engaging conductor and therefore began his workshop inquiring as to what participants hoped to achieve from the workshop; amidst murmurs and whispers finally everyone voiced out their expectations and the majority ultimately came down to ‘understanding’: what to do, how to cop and react but mainly, how to help.

As a result Nivendra’s workshop took shape as an informative and sensitizing experience to our audience.

Coming Out:“Coming out of the closet of hiding your true self” “Accepting your sexuality to yourself and others”“Embracing you”Were perceptions of coming out that the audience had. However Nivendra explained that ‘coming’ out is a non-linear process; there is no cookie-cutter mechanism to come-out or a communal obligation to do so either. Some may prefer to ‘come out’ to their friends, others to family, and some to strangers, it differs.

What prevents someone from coming out?The fear that you would lose everything you hold dear. Nivendra showed this to us in a unique manner through an activity he referred to as the Paper Tear. Handing out A4 sheets to everyone, he asked all participants to tear it to 5 pieces of paper, and allocate a piece of paper for each of the following: a best friend, the closest family member, favorite place to hang out, favorite position and future ambition. Participants were requested to chuck each piece of paper as far as possible.Silence occupied by the room, when everyone realized they had nothing left in their hands anymore. The realization that they had lost everything close to them, helped them palpably realize what those who come out only to be rejected perhaps feel. By the end of the activity the audience was in awe-stricken but also more empathetic as to why some chose to hide their sexuality and others don’t confront it directly: the risk is immense.

“How do you feel?” , inquired Nivendra.Responses were; “I feel helpless”, or “I don’t know what to do” were common answers.You may wonder what you can do to prevent this feeling of helplessness in you, or someone you know.Nivendra was full of answers.“Don’t sympathize, empathize”, he urged. By putting yourself in person A’s shoes, you feel what they are going through, or at least display an attempt to try to. He emphasized the need to prevent ‘feeling sorry’ for someone and instead merely listening and ‘be there.’ This means a lot to those that are feeling the pressures of being part of the LGBTQ community, because through empathy, you are also recognizing that individual for who he/she is.

The “do’s” included keeping things confidential and private, for the person that goes through the said pressures comes to you with confidence and trust. Violating this would be the worst crime committed against them.

The “don’ts” were very simple: do not ask questions too direct, or hurtful, as both can be counterproductive to an individual coming out. Nivendra made sure all the participants understood that asking someone something like, “were you molested as a child?” was a very, very bad idea as it would make the person coming out to you feel as if he/she is ‘wrong’ in feeling the way they do. Depression and suicide

The two themes being inter-related, are often looked down upon as “not-so-serious” issues. Sufferers are often told “to snap out of it”, or “stop being dramatic”.But Nivendra urged us to look at mental health the same way we do physical health, “You wouldn’t tell someone to snap out of cancer would you?”

Depression is a serious issue; it is a mental illness that can kill, and has killed millions of people due to its correlation with suicide. Although depression can be identified, it is not be the same for everyone. Symptoms vary on a case by case basis. Some may over-eat, whilst some may not eat. Some may have sudden fluctuations in emotion. Yet, the illness is the same, and can be fatal.

Depression: Myths and Facts Nivendra, the myth buster help the participants identify certain myths pertaining to depression and suicide, and explained why those myths are flawed. For example, it is not just the mentally ill, or those going through depression, that consider suicide. He also elaborated on the appropriated terminology in relation to the sensitive subject matter, “Committed suicide sounds related to a crime, died by suicide is more appropriate.”

How can ‘you’ help?Nivendra summarized the final part of his workshop, ‘How you can help’, with a few steps that are effective and can be followed through by any individual. NOTICE- pay attention and notice whether or not someone is depressed through symptoms like mood fluctuations or a sudden change in eating habits.ASK- ask the person about his/hers problems LISTEN- listen carefully to what he/she has to sayPERSUADE- persuade him into doing something like starting a hobby, joining a club or running every morningREFER- refer him to a professional in order to get him the most help he can get.

​Fortunately for us, professional help is out there: Sumithrayo (0112692909 9am-8pm), CCC line (1333 9am-9pm) and Shanthi Maargam (0717639898 24 hours) To all those interested- do not worry, these organizations will not patronize you, and will certainly help you cope. To everyone out there suffering, or knows someone who is suffering we urge you, join the conversation, through dialogue, you have the opportunity to be made aware, and the opportunity to make others aware. Be a part of workshops such as this, write about your experiences and share it with us, we’d love to hear your stories. We at Voice+ Sri Lanka, received an overwhelmingly positive response from our audience: “I feel empowered to prevent suicide”, “I know more about how to appropriately approach someone who is confused about their gender”and it empowers us to continue our efforts.